Red, green, blue
by Black Angelis2
Summary: "How many gemstones did you kill?"


**Red, green, blue**

oOo

Red.

Aerys likes rubies. He has a ruby crown, Rhaella has ruby jewelry, his clothes are red and you think it's a pretty color, it's the red of the Tagaryen dragon, the Lannister red and then you think that Cersei likes rubies too, Cersei is a gemstone and you'd do anything for her, even if it's terrible, even if it's infamous. Rubies are like blood, the blood on your sword when you do the king's bidding, they're even like fire, the fire the dragons whose skulls ornament the Throne Room used to breathe, it shines, it sparkles and it burns, like what you feel for Cersei. You do think red is a beautiful color, more beautiful than white, more beautiful than golden, and one day Aerys burns Rickard Stark right before you and you're not so sure any more. There are rubies in the king's eyes and his laughter twinkles, it's a burning and destructive ruby, it's the Mad King and his scarlet heart.

Burm them all, he tells you, and you close your eyes and you see the ruby blood flowing, the flames burning everything, you see the world in red, so you stop thinking about loyalty. This fire is green but it doesn't matter, fire is fire, it's Targaryen red and certainly not Lannister red, so you wield your sword and you spill scarlet drops of blood over the Throne.

They call you the Kingslayer but they're wrong, they know nothing, they didn't see all that red.

_Jaime Lannister_, you think. _The Rubyslayer_.

.

Green.

Cersei has beautiful eyes. That's what you've thought for years, maybe since you were born. She has green eyes, green like an emerald, green like your own eyes and you're sure that you love this color. Sometimes you wish there were some green on the Lannister sigil, green is the color of hope, or so you've heard, it's the color of the trees you see when you ride through the forest and start dreaming of an emerald life, a life far away from the rubies of King's Landing. Green is the color of your children's eyes, the ones you can't claim as your own, the ones you can't even come near to. You feel like protesting, once or twice, when you think of your emerald life, but Cersei refuses so you do as she says, thinking it's probably better this way.

The emeralds disappear one by one. Joffrey's turn purple, Myrcella's fade in your arms, and then Tommen's break and shatter on the ground, and you think that you have Cersei, you'll always have Cersei. You don't think of the emerald fire that blew up the Sept of Baelor, it wasn't ruby fire, Cersei isn't Aerys.

Rubies return when the Dragon Queen comes to the Red Keep and you think of the scarlet drops over the Throne and Rickard Stark burning and screaming but Tyrion tells you that she isn't her father, that a threat is coming from the North and that they need help, so you nod, thinking of your future emerald green life, something worth fighting for.

You're wrong, of course, you know it when Cersei tells you all about Lannister dynasty, ruby red dynasty and wildfire, and you understand that you were mistaken, fire is fire, it's Targaryen red and Lannister red alike. You strangle the last emeralds with your own hands and it all fades away, the ruby red dynasty and the emerald green life.

You don't stop crying for a second. You've just earned a new name.

_The Emeraldslayer._

.

Blue.

You didn't like blue, before, actually it didn't really matter to you, the Lannisters don't care about this dull color, the Lannisters live for blood and glory. You don't really like red any more, not since Aerys and his rubies, you love Cersei and emeralds, and you think it's enough.

Sapphires, you think, when you see her eyes for the first time. You hate her, that's what you keep telling yourself, this woman who considers herself a knight, you even dream of spilling rubies and you only think about getting back to your emeralds but whenever you close your eyes, you only see sapphires.

Brienne listens to you when you tell her about Aerys and his rubies, and the sapphire blue of her eyes looks at you in a different way after that. You see Cersei again but the emerald life has blue shades, now.

When the emeralds are gone, sapphires are all you have left, so you hold on to them and you kiss her. With her there will never be rubies, you're sure of that, and you're so glad about it. Blue may be dull, blue may be cold but you no longer want fire, red fire and green fire alike, blue fire doesn't exist.

Daenerys Stormborn isn't her father, Tyrion told you, she doesn't bring rubies, but he's wrong too. They defeat the army of the dead but Sansa Stark doesn't want Targaryen red in her frozen kingdom, she only wants white, and you don't know what to think of it, you want blue, you want Brienne and her sapphire eyes. In the end you have no choice, war starts again, it's white against red so you choose white, you've seen too many rubies and too much fire.

She has two dragons and the snow is no longer white, and then her hair is no longer white when Sansa cuts her throat and stabs her through the heart, and you see the ruby rivers again. You find Brienne and when you sink to your knees, you understand that sapphires can turn red, just like emeralds. It's not her face you recognize, the red of the fire ruined it, but you could never forget the sapphires. You hold her tight and you kiss her, you repeat you can't live without sapphires now but you see them beginning to fade and you think it's going to hurt, it's going to hurt so bad. She smiles at you and it's cruel because you remember why you love blue so much, more than red, more than green.

"How many gemstones did you kill?" she asks in a weak voice.

"Too many," you answer.

The rubies, the emeralds, it's too much for you, you never wanted any of this.

"The Sapphireslayer," she says. "It sounds good."

You know what she's asking, you think you'll never be able to do it again, it almost destroyed you the two first times, but you see the red covering her and making her wail, and it's killing you too. You grab your sword with a trembling hand.

Red, green, blue.

Rubies, emeralds, sapphires.

You only see white, now, your heart is a hard, sharp and cold diamond.

Red, green, blue.

White.


End file.
